Imagine

Over the past thirty years, contemporary Christian music has become one of the fastest growing segments of the music industry and currently sells more albums than classical and jazz music.

The best selling Christian song of all time is “I Can Only Imagine” by the band MercyMe. Worldwide, it has sold over 2.5 million copies and is widely requested on both Christian and secular radio stations.

The songwriter and lead singer of MercyMe, Bart Millard, wrote the song after the death of his father in 2000. It is a moving reflection on what heaven is like and how it will be beyond anything we can imagine on earth.

The story behind the song is just as moving as the lyrics and melody themselves.

When Bart was a child, his mother abandoned the family. Distraught, his father turned to alcohol to soothe his pain. In the process, he became verbally and physically abusive to young Bart. Both the loss of his mother and the abuse he received from his father would have been enough to break the young man. However, he attended a Christian camp one summer and credits the faith he received there with giving him the strength to endure all the trials of his childhood.

For many years, Bart’s father continued in a downward spiral of alcohol dependency and abusive behavior. Then, he was shocked into reality when he discovered he had cancer. The diagnosis led him to turn to God and his life was totally transformed. Not only did he find the power to abandon his alcohol addiction but to go from an abusive man to a tender and loving father.  In the process, Bart went from resenting and fearing his father to forgiving and even admiring him.

It was that experience of the transforming power of God’s love that drove him to compose that beautiful Christian ballad with so much energy and pathos.

Both the song and the story behind it have inspired a film that debuted in theaters this month and is continuing to touch hearts and minds with the good news of God’s saving love.

Bart Millard’s story is also a moving illustration of today’s gospel.

Jesus tells His apostles that He is the true vine and they are the branches. As long as they remain in Him and allow the Father to prune them, they will bear much fruit. Apart from Him, however, they will dry up and die.

Before coming to faith in Christ, Bart’s father was like that withered branch. He sought comfort from his pain through alcohol. But that only led to frustration, causing him to lash out in abusive behavior towards others.

As human beings, we long for connection. If we are not connected to Christ, we will seek connection to something else. However, it will always lead to frustration because no one and nothing else can give us the life we need other than Jesus Christ, the true vine. Without Jesus, we will wither up. Once we come to our senses and turn back to God, we feel life beginning to return to us. Our frustration gives way to peace. Our sadness gives way to joy. It doesn’t happen overnight. Like a seed that is planted in the dark soil, it takes time for our roots to sprout and take hold. However, it will happen as long as we remain in Christ who is the source of life itself.

Jesus tells us also that the Father is the vinedresser who prunes the branches. That pruning is necessary to make sure that the minerals from the ground are delivered directly to the healthy branches. However, pruning can be painful. In the case of Bart’s father, it came in the form of devastating news about his cancer diagnosis. For others, pruning comes when they lose their job and all of a sudden have to deal with financial insecurity. We can be pruned when someone we love dies or when a relationship ends. All those painful experiences cause us to re-evaluate our lives and question where our priorities lie. At the time, the challenges we face might seem pointless. However, as we grow from those experiences, we see the good that comes from them. Then, the next time we encounter suffering, we can trust that God is directing all the events in our lives to draw good out of them, pruning us so that we can grow healthy and stronger.

Finally, Jesus tells us that, if we remain in Him, we will bear much fruit. Just consider how much fruit came from Bart Millard’s experience. His father’s transformation through faith in Christ not only changed them but inspired a song which has brought comfort and inspiration to millions of people. The same is true for us. If we remain connected to Jesus and trust the Father to prune us, we too will bear fruit that will nourish others. The impact of our faith and good works might not be immediately apparent to us. There are times when we might question what good our prayers and sacrifices are making in the world. But if we trust God and allow Him to do His work in us, we will bear fruit, we will touch others and the world will be better because of it. That is Jesus’ promise and it has been born out in the lives of billions of believers down through the centuries.

If you feel like a dried up, withered branch, turn to Jesus. He longs to share His life with you and will happily graft you back onto Himself and provide you the nourishment you need to grow. We receive that nourishment here today through the bread and wine which will become His Body and Blood. For those of us who have already given our lives to Christ but are going through a time of dryness and barrenness, let us remember that there are seasons to the spiritual life. It could be that we are passing through winter but spring will arrive for us shortly if we continue to trust God. In the end, we can only imagine what kind of harvest God will bring about through us when His Kingdom comes in its fullness and we are gathered into the glory of Heaven.